How true it is! I refuse to do that math on this because I remember 1980 all too well!

But you know what this means? New year, new year’s resolutions. I prefer goals – things I’m going to accomplish rather than things I’m going to change. It means I can create a checklist, post it over my work computer and check off the items as I get them done.

My 2019 goals included finishing book 2 and getting it published. I managed to do half of that. Two rejections later and I’m still working on the second half. I also managed to grow my freelance work by 25% which is both surprising and exciting.

So what are my goals this year? They are rather lofty and that scares me. Posting them here scares me even more because it creates accountability. But hey…I trust you my valued readers. If I succeed I know you’ll celebrate with me. And if I fail I know you’ll commiserate with me. (And hopefully offer chocolate or share an adult beverage)

Goal 1: Keep shopping around books 1 and 2 in my Lovers of Belle Terre series. Did I tell you I got the rights back to book 1? I didn’t! Oh yeah, when the publisher rejected book 2 I requested and early termination to the rights on book 1 and it was granted. I’m very grateful to own this book again. I hope to learn lots about rebranding it with book 2.

Goal 2: Finish book 3. With this goal comes the decision of what to do with the 3 books. Do I self-publish or continue to shop? I know in theory how the marketing works but I’ve not had any success with it.

Goal 3: I want to have at least 25,000 words on the psychological thriller I told you about in a previous post. This one is coming together in my head more and more. One of my characters is going to be written in 2nd person POV and that has been a challenge to master.

There are other goals to consider but they are really dependent on things outside my influence right now. As soon as that gets written in stone I’ll share some big news with you in Q1.

Go forth, intrepid writers! Into the new year. New projects, new goals, new words!